The next day, various Taoist sects formally held a collective meeting. Sun Simiao, Tian Shiwen, Pan Shizheng, Cheng Xuanying, Zhang Tongxuan, Li Chunfeng and more than 20 people attended the meeting. Naturally, Chen Jingke also attended the meeting.
They were a loose alliance, united only by Sun Simiao's status in the world, so this meeting didn't seem that formal.
You didn't start talking about business directly, but started chatting. In fact, many important decisions are reached and finalized in this kind of chat.
If you are just chatting, you will inevitably show off the glorious deeds of your own sect, especially your missionary achievements.
This family said that within our sphere of influence, Buddhism has been suppressed to the point where it can no longer raise its head; the other family said that two of our temples there had no incense and were abandoned.
Some people said that we persuaded a certain tribe to convert; and soon someone said that we persuaded a tribe of more than 5,000 people to convert.
First, the small sects show off, while the big sects are more reserved.
Pan Shizheng said unhurriedly: "Our results are average. We have convinced six tribes of one thousand people, one tribe of six thousand people, and one tribe of ten thousand people to convert."
Tian Shiwen also said lightly: "Our results are similar to those of the Maoshan sect, with five tribes of one thousand people, one tribe of seven thousand tribes, and one tribe of ten thousand tribes."
As soon as a few big factions took action, everyone was immediately suppressed. This achievement was truly speechless.
At this time, Li Chunfeng said with a smile: "Our Jingyun Temple is weak and has only convinced one tribe to convert."
Everyone is an old fox, and they saw that there was something behind his words. This tribe should not be simple.
Sure enough, Cheng Xuanying said: "Jingyun Temple did convince only one tribe, but this tribe has a population of 70,000."
"Wow..." Everyone was in an uproar.
"Seventy thousand people? Real or fake?"
"How?"
"Fellow Daoist Li, could you please share your experience?"
You must know that Sun Simiao had an agreement with Li Shimin. If they could persuade the leader of the Thousand People Tribe to convert to Taoism, they would be rewarded with two ultimatums.
If you convince the tribal leaders of 5,000 people to convert to Taoism, you will be rewarded with five ultimatums. If you can convince the tribal leaders of 10,000 people to convert, you will be awarded a Taoist temple.
If the barbarian chief can be persuaded to convert, he will be given a famous mountain as a dojo, a real person's name, a number of disciples, etc...
The chiefs of a large tribe of 70,000 people are considered great chiefs no matter what. This famous mountain ashram has almost been acquired.
Being able to be present on a famous mountain and have a dharma title given by the emperor gives you the capital to be passed down and passed down.
Li Chunfeng's faction is about to flourish.
Even Chen Jingke was surprised. How did they do it?
When they first chose the direction of preaching, Jingyun Guan, Chongxuan Sect, Louguan Taoism and other sects chose the southwest direction, which is later Yunnan, Guizhou and the southwest region.
There are many mountainous areas where indigenous forces are strong, among which Liuzhao is the most powerful.
However, based on the population density in ancient times, especially in Yunnan and Guizhou, a large tribe of 70,000 people governed at least five or six counties, making it a small overlord.
It's incredible that Jingyun Temple was able to convince their chief to convert.
Well, the southwestern barbarians still practice slavery. The chief has the power of life and death. Those who believe in whatever sect he believes in must convert.
There are exceptions of course, but they are rare.
Jingyun Guan has not revealed it until now, and it is really deep.
Li Chunfeng did not hide anything and explained the process openly and openly.
Some missionary disciples accidentally rescued a woman, and they fell in love with each other. Then this woman was the daughter of the chief of the tribe.
With this foundation, the disciple called all his brothers over and concentrated on conquering this tribe.
Relying on advanced culture and knowledge, he helped the tribe solve many problems and finally succeeded in convincing the chief to convert to Taoism.
Although Li Chunfeng has tried his best to beautify this process, he has also tried his best to ignore the role of the chief's daughter in it.
But everyone still extracted the core factor: the beauty trap.
Bah, shameless.
Everyone was cursing secretly, and at the same time they were envious and jealous. Why didn't this kind of good thing happen to one of their own disciples?
But what happened at Jingyun Temple did open a new window for everyone. In the future, when Taoist sects choose to send out disciples, they will often choose those who are more handsome and unrestrained.
Needless to say, it really had an unexpected effect.
Let’s not mention these things for now, now everyone is envious of Li Chunfeng and pay more attention to Jingyun Temple.
Faced with this kind of result, Chen Jingke was naturally very happy.
It's not because of how many tribes were persuaded to convert, but because Taoism finally went out. After more than a year of training, each sect has gradually formed a relatively effective method of preaching.
The fire has been ignited, just slowly add more wood to make it grow bigger, and one day it will start a prairie fire.
The topic naturally turned to enfeoffment.
Pan Shizheng exclaimed: "I never thought that the world is so big and there are so many islands overseas."
Cheng Xuanying also said: "Yes, although the islands are fragmented, the sum total is not smaller than the Central Plains."
Tian Shiwen reminded: "Don't forget that there is Tianzhu. If we include it, the land outside the Tang Dynasty is vaster than we imagined."
Zhang Tongxuan said: "It is too difficult to manage such a vast land. I think this is the real intention of the saint to enfeoff the vassal states."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Tian Shiwen said: "The princes and kings guard the sea areas and can manage them nearby...immigrate from the Central Plains and educate the natives. In a few generations, these islands will be owned by China."
"Governing the country is a matter for the princes and kings. We, the Taoists, will never get involved, but we, the Taoists, have the duty to educate all the people."
The other headmasters also looked excited and said: "Yes, I will do my duty."
Zhang Tongxuan interjected: "But we can't rush in, otherwise it will create unnecessary competition and give outsiders an advantage."
Everyone believed what he said, and everyone knew who the outsider was.
Zhang Tongxuan continued: "We'd better discuss clearly who will go where, just like when we went to the south to preach."
Everyone recognized his words again.
At this time, the leader of a small faction said first: "Master Sun, please tell me how to distribute this matter."
Leaders of several other small sects also echoed:
"Yes, yes, yes, Master Sun is my Taoist leader, and he should be the one to handle this matter."
"I only listen to Master Sun..."
The expressions of the leaders of several large factions were a little unnatural, and these small factions were obviously wary of them.
Chen Jingke also laughed secretly. Everyone knew that Zixiaoguan only wanted to reform Taoism and had no intention of intervening in the power grab of various sects.
Sun Simiao had high prestige and was fair in dealing with matters, so the small sect supported him even more.
Only in this way can they seize food from the tiger's mouth of the big sects, and can also ensure that the big sects do not dare to infringe on their interests or even annex them.
Having said this, everyone's eyes turned to Sun Simiao, who was sitting in the first place.
Sun Simiao also knew that it was time to express his opinion, so he said: "It's good that you have this intention. I am very happy, but this matter cannot be rushed."
"The enfeoffment has just been determined. How it will be divided is still unknown. Even if we want to take action, we have nowhere to move."
"But we can't do nothing. The best way to successfully preach is to get the support of the princes and kings."
"We can make a list of the nobles who are expected to be enfeoffed, and then slowly lobby for the right to preach in their future territories."
Master Pan clapped his hands and praised: "This method is wonderful and can save us a lot of trouble."
Others also agreed.
And they have already begun to think in their minds about how to divide these nobles. They must first determine who will lobby which company, so that they will not lobby against each other at the same time.
Zhang Tongxuan asked: "I don't know how to allocate the quotas?" After speaking, he glanced at Chen Jingke vaguely.
Tian Shiwen said: "You can continue to follow the last distribution method."
His proposal was opposed by many small and medium-sized sects.
The previous method was too unfair to Xiaopai. Last time, everyone didn't see how big the benefits were, so they didn't say anything. This time, nothing can be done.
Li Chunfeng naturally objected strongly. Their Jingyun Temple was weak before, but it is different now.
Report the results to the emperor, and you will immediately get a famous mountain as a dojo. It can be regarded as the prototype of a big sect, and naturally you don't want to suffer the same losses as before.
Seeing that the two sides were about to argue, Chen Jingke spoke up and said: "You don't need to argue, I have the fairest way."
Everyone immediately fell silent and turned their attention to him.
Tian Shiwen said with great interest: "Oh, I wonder what Master Chen said?"
Chen Jingke slowly said two words: "Draw lots."
Upon hearing this method, some people's eyes lit up and showed joy, while others frowned and objected.
Chen Jingke waved his hand to stop them and continued: "Don't worry, listen to me slowly. You don't think that if you just go to your home, others will support our missionary work, right?"
"Each noble family has its own preferences. Who can guarantee that they will be convinced? According to the normal distribution, what if there are a large number of noble families who cannot be persuaded? Is it just a waste of money?"
"Don't forget, Buddhism is still watching. If we fail to convince the nobles in time to get permission, they will probably overtake us."
Everyone's expressions became solemn.
Tian Shiwen's heart moved and he wanted to say something, but he opened his mouth and closed it again.
Li Chunfeng said: "Yes, Mr. Chen hit the nail on the head and pointed out the biggest problem, but can this problem be solved by drawing lots?"
Chen Jingke smiled and said: "Of course it cannot be solved by drawing lots, but no one stipulates that drawing lots can only be done once."
Seeing everyone's confusion, he explained: "Everyone draws lots randomly, and whoever is drawn will lobby. If the lobbying fails within a certain period of time, it will be considered a failure."
"After the failure, the company lost its lobbying rights. The noble family returned to the lottery box, and everyone continued to draw..."
"This is equivalent to another person lobbying, maybe there will be a different result... The lottery will not end until all the nobles have successfully lobbied."
After everyone thought for a while, they thoroughly understood the principle of drawing lots, and they all said: "Good idea, really good idea, I agree with this method."
The small faction thinks it's fair, and the big faction thinks it has greater advantages due to its greater ability and more followers. Everyone supports this method at the same time.
So the assignment was settled smoothly.
At this time, Chen Jingke added: "The nobles are all smart people, and I believe they are definitely not willing to hand over the right to preach to a sect."
"They will choose several families and even introduce Buddhism to prevent our dominance from harming their rule."
"I believe you are more experienced than me in how to solve this problem. I just want to give you a heads up and won't say anything more."
Everyone nodded again. The best way is to lobby separately with the conflicting sects. As soon as you find out that there are conflicts between the two families, OK, it will be your two families.
But when they think of cooperating with a sect that they had conflicts with before, they feel like eating flies. But they have to do it, after all, no one is willing to give up such a huge benefit.
In the face of interests, the previous contradictions are nothing.
At this time, Tian Shiwen suddenly said: "Zhenren Chen, when will your Journey to the West be published?"
People who didn't know it looked at them in confusion, "What is Journey to the West?" Those who knew it, such as Pan Shizheng and Li Chunfeng, all showed thoughtful expressions.
Chen Jingke was also stunned for a moment, not expecting that he would ask this question at this time. To be honest, he himself had forgotten the book Journey to the West.
He naturally understood what Tian Shiwen meant, which was to ask him when he would launch an attack on Buddhism.
As a Chinese culturalist, Lou Guandao's hatred of Buddhism has never disappeared. The reason why they have become more restrained in recent years is not that they have given up their hatred but that they are accumulating strength.
But was this really a good time to attack Buddhism? He was a little unsure.
After thinking about it, he said: "There are still a few questions in this book that I haven't thought through yet. I will make a decision after asking some elders for advice."
Tian Shiwen also understood what he meant and did not urge him. He just said: "Now is the best time. I'm afraid it will be too late after a while."
Chen Jingke didn't understand what he meant, but he didn't show it. He just nodded calmly to show that he understood.
The meeting continued, and everyone collectively improved the details of the lottery and lobbying, and finally came up with a relatively feasible charter.
As for how to determine which nobles are eligible for enfeoffment, we can only wait for further developments from the court.
After the meeting, all the leaders were busy getting it. This move would be huge and we needed to prepare in advance.
Chen Jingke went to Sun Simiao and asked his doubts: "Master, do you think now is a good time to launch an attack on Buddhism?"
"And what does Master Tian's last sentence mean? Why is it too late after a while?"
Sun Simiao actually did not want to start a religious war, but he also knew that it was inevitable, so he sighed and said:
"Now is indeed a rare good opportunity. Waiting until the enfeoffment quota is determined and everyone is competing for missionary rights may have the opposite effect."
At that time, the nobles will think that the two families are competing maliciously, and then for the sake of their own rule, they will introduce the Buddhist and Taoist families into their feudal kingdom at the same time, so as to prevent one family from becoming dominant.
If this situation really occurs, it will really be a wedding dress for Buddhism. So either don't fight, or start fighting before the enfeoffment begins.
Chen Jingke perked up and said, "It's great. I have revised Journey to the West countless times and finally it can be published."
